EVERYTHING IS GREEN IN IOWA...a love story

It is hard to believe that in November 26, 2012 we will have been married 49 years.

  We were so young when we met.  We both graduated in 1961. My husband graduated in Iowa

and I graduated in New Mexico.

So how did we meet?  CJ, my husband, 18 years old, took the tests to get into the Navy. He passed the tests but they wouldn't send him until the next month. He wanted to leave right away ,so he went down the hall, and joined the Air Force.  He became an AP (Air Police). After boot camp, in San Antonio, Texas...he was stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I was working in Albuquerque and living with my parents. One day, a girl I knew from Sandia High School, stopped by my house.  She was determined.  There was a guy I had to meet. They called him "Phi."

I had never been on Kirkland Air Force Base. 

The friend and I climbed into her old, rusty/red 1949 (Yep 1949) Plymouth and headed south for the base.

I just have to clarify that the driver of the car, Linda, was quite a character. The young men at the gate called her by name and waved us through. (So ,she had definately been there before. ) Linda drove to the men's barricks There were a lot of young men in the parking lot, that she introduced me to; but "Phi" was working 3 to 11.

At 11 PM Linda drove us out to Phi's site.  Unbeknownst to me, we were not allowed on the site that he was guarding.  (But, everyone seemed to know Linda.)  A young man, in uniform, with his hat pulled down over his forehead, and with very few words climbed into the front seat with us.  I really,( sorry to say,) was not that impressed.  I could hardly see him in the dark, with his hat pulled down to his eyes. (Later, I found out he was embarrassed that we picked him up...because we were not suppose to be on that part of the base.)

I put Linda and her friend "Phi" out of my mind the rest of the week.  On Friday, Linda called me at the photography studio where I was working. "Want to go on a double date tonight?'

I answered the knock on the door that evening.  I was quite surprised.  Phi was a very good looking guy.
dark hair, brown eyes around 5ft 7 inches. And He had a nice smile. (OK...I guess this won't be too bad.)

We bowled that night. (I'm not the greatest bowler but he didn't seem to notice.) We chit chatted and he bought me a hamburger.

Later, we walked around Roosevelt Park (holding hands). He told me about Iowa. How green it was compared to New Mexico. He lived in a little town. Had three brothers. (I'm not sure I got a word in edge wise, but it was fine.) I knew nothing about Iowa. I had lived in New Mexico, Montana, Arizona, and Colorado...but had never been to the Midwest.  I knew nothing about corn fields, farms. Phi kept emphasising how green Iowa was.

Phi and I were both 18. He was close to turning 19 in April...I would turn 19 the following December.
We became an "item". I wore his class ring. Phi didn't have a car at the time. A friend would drop him off at my house and he would walk the couple miles back to the base.  He returned to Iowa on leave, and drove back a 1954 Chevy.  We didn't have much money. We would stop for a hamburger, drive around Albuquerque or visit my grandmother, who had a store (Ruby's Novelties), in the Sandia Mountains.

My parents moved to Santa Rita. I wanted to stay in Albuquerque, but my money didn't stretch..
Besides, "Phi" and I hit a wall.

I called my mother and they drove to Albuquerque to pick me up. I lived in Santa Rita for awhile and then
returned to Albuquerque to attend a Cosmetology School.  Two of the gals from school and I were sitting at Big Bob's having a root beer.( Bob's was a drive up restuarant with car hops.)  I saw the green Chevy across from us. I ignored it. There was a knock on the window. "Yea, so and so wants you to drive Central (The main street in Albug) with them." My first reaction was "No way!" But my friends knew the other guys in the car.  I began to get into the back seat when the driver ,known as "Phi," said, "Get up here with me."

We drove silently at first and then Phi said, "I heard you were back in town." As we continued talking, he asked me to quit hanging around with "the blonds" (my friends from beauty school.) I said, "Listen buddy, I'm not quitting anything unless I have a ring on my finger!"

I continued bombing Central and Big Bob's with the blonds( Bombing was the slang for driving around.) Central  Ave.was the main street...it was part of  Route 66. (If you have every seen American Graffiti then you know what Central Ave in Albuquerque was like.)

 The blonds and I attended some dances on the base.  I was dancing with a guy from Virginia. Looked up and there was Phi. He had just finished his shift, had his uniform on, and took me home.... So long Virginia.

Sure enough, about a month later, Phi showed up with an engagement ring.

He clipped my wings.

We were married on November 26, 1963. Two of our friends and their baby were at our wedding. My grandmother's pastor married us in his home at Cedar Crest in the Sandia Mountains. I borrowed a white

dress and borrowed "blue" shoes (They were 5 1/2...and I wear 6 1/2...my feet were hurting but they were Blue.) We didn't have a camera so we had no pictures of our wedding. I was sad when I had to give the white dress back...(not so with the shoes.)

I now live with corn fields, farms, trees, "green" around me in the summer and snow in the winter.

Some people don't believe in "destiny" but I believe in Divine Destiny. At 22 yrs old I asked Jesus Christ to come into my life.

We have three wonderful children and seven natural grandchildren and two bonus grandchildren. My life is good...(Thanks Lord ,for the old rusty/red Plymouth in my driveway, and Linda at my door.)

ALL IS GREEN IN IOWA